Tranmere 2 Yeovil 1

After an even first half Thomas-Moore and Taylor struck four minutes apart to lift Rovers to 25 points and close the gap to safety.

Les Parry made one change to the side that started at Charlton as Chris Shuker replaced Gareth Edds, a move that saw a switch to 4-4-2, with Shuker and Craig Curran playing on the wings.

A well worked corner routine saw Paul McLaren break into the area on four minutes but the Yeovil defence dealt with the threat at the expense of another set piece.

At the other end Dean Bowditch sliced a shot well wide of the target while Ian Goodison required treatment following a defensive challenge inside his own area soon after. The Jamaican international left the pitch limping alongside Les Parry but returned to action a few moments later.

Some sloppy play from both sides saw possession given away on more than one occasion and the first chance for some time fell to Terry Gornell on 28 minutes. A flick on from Ian Thomas-Moore put the ball into the young striker's path and he did well to hold of a defender but he put his shot over the bar from close range.

Gornell went much closer with his next effort, bringing a decent save out of Alex McCarthy with a left foot shot on the turn from the edge of the area.

Yeovil's Steven Caulker headed wide from a Shaun MacDonald corner three minutes before half time, while Shuker earned a yellow card for protesting that he should have won a free kick just outside the Yeovil area in injury time.

Bowditch volleyed wide from a central position 20 yards out a minute into the second half but a couple of minutes later Rovers responded with their first attack of the period, and one that brought the game's opening goal. A free kick taken by McLaren was cleared by the Yeovil defence but the ball was played back into the area, held up by Goodison for long enough for Thomas-Moore to find space to poke a shot into the bottom right corner from 12 yards.

Four minutes later the home fans erupted as Rovers doubled their lead. A foul on Thomas-Moore outside the area brought a free kick in a dangerous position and with Curran, Shuker and McLaren all standing over the ball. Curran was first to move, racing into the area past the wall and he was quickly picked out by Shuker before his low cross into the six yard box was turned in by Ash Taylor for his first goal at Prenton Park.

Welsh and Shuker both brought saves out of McCarthy, the latter from a tight angle after an excellent run from Bakayogo, while Goodison produced a textbook last ditch tackle to deny substitute Ryan Mason a one on one shooting opportunity at the other end.

Thomas-Moore sent a long range shot wide of the target on 63 minutes but at the opposite end Tranmere were perhaps fortunate to survive a breakaway attack from Mason after Taylor gave away possession on the halfway line.

From there on it was relatively comfortable for Tranmere who spent much of the remaining quarter of the match in the Yeovil half without overly threatening the opposition goal, though Thomas-Moore did go close with two minutes remaining after running on to Gornell's flick on.

However, as the game went into injury time Yeovil substitute John Obika was caught by Shaleum Logan just inside the area, with Mason converting the penalty to make for a nervy final few moments for Rovers.